Class´ comments

I found this space (blog) an innovative way that let us express our ideas and contrast them with those of our classmates. I had never had this kind of activity in any other class and I think it is a good way to evaluate the follow up.
Regarding the presentations and the final report, I think they are proper for the course, since they help with the accomplishment of the course´s goals
I just have one suggestion and it is regarding the midterm exam, I would have preferred it to be more concrete and focus on some determined topics.

Chibchas

Since I was a child, I have always heard about the chibcha ethnic. Because of those common comments, I imagined that it had been an important indigenous culture in our country. However, I didn´t know too much about them. Therefore, I decided to close this blog, presenting some important facts about this cultural group that, for my surprise, did not only habit in Colombia but in a vast zone which went from Nicaragua to Ecuador (including Venezuela). It means that this indigenous group was located in the middle of the two most important American indigenous ethnics, the Inca and the Maya. As a consequence of their location, the chibchas received a great influence from these two ethnics
Searching on the web, I found that the chibchas were not an homogenous group, in contrast, they had so many sub-classifications and there were innumerable conflicts and wars among them. The most important chibcha´s sub-ethnic in Colombia was the Muiscas, which were located mainly in Bogota, Antioquia, Popayan and Cartago.
As a general characteristic of the chibcha ethnic, it can be said that they were great gold workers. Nevertheless, as I mentioned before, they were an uneven cultural group and due to that reason it is pretty difficult to mention more general characteristics about them. The last fact, generated that the chibchas ethnics got different development levels, being the most advanced in Colombia, those whose location was Bogota (they were called moscas)
Regarding the religion, I found that this indigenous ethnic had a vague idea about a god and they adored natural phenomena as kind of gods, they had some heroes as well. About the life after death, the chibchas thought that it depended on the behavior that individuals had had in this world.
I wanted to present this topic in the Latin America module because of the importance that indigenous cultures had over this continent. Unfortunately, their legacy has been almost eliminated from our land. Despite the last fact, I invite you to think that indigenous cultures were not inferior cultures that were destined to despair because of their low development. Before the arrival of Europeans to America, those groups had already developed complex forms of social life (there is even some evidence that some indigenous cultures had created a kind of civil code to regulate the social life), religion, work and management.

Bibliography
hispanidad.tripod.com. (n.d.). Los Chibchas de Nueva Granada. Retrieved May 20, 2010, from http://hispanidad.tripod.com/hechos23.htm

Classmates´ blogs

Having checked some of my classmates´ blogs, I consider that the best one is Daniel Botero´s blog (http://dboterog.blogspot.com/). As I wrote on his blog, he offers a rich background about the topics he is discussing and he makes clear statements.

Blogs visited:
http://mauriciocultureafit.blogspot.com/
http://dboterog.blogspot.com/
http://clsorganizacionesyculturas.blogspot.com/
http://www.19890522.blogspot.com/
http://www.organizationsandculturesbyantti.blogspot.com/